


wardrobe

by bluebellbygones



Category: Warframe
Genre: Gen, Other, some existential crisis stuff, the tenno loves their warframes but may or may not somewhat consider them to be people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25758928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebellbygones/pseuds/bluebellbygones
Summary: The child, and the warriors who serve as their skin.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	wardrobe

Volt is the frame they awaken as, confronted by Vor and the Grineer. With Volt as their frame, the forces that tail the Tenno are never quite able to catch up, often fried by electricity if they are not outran. They explode into showers of sparks, turning everything within range into a smoking scrap heap before leaping and sprinting away in a blink. Volt is their power, and their freedom, their liberation. Volt is the frame that carried them away from the Lotus’s sanctuary when their legs were too atrophied to use proper, the one who was run through by the Stalker, and the one who destroyed the sword, saving their life. The Tenno would never really know why, to this day.

With Ivara, the Tenno is able to vanish. The same experience is applicable to the Loki frame, but not to the same extent. Ivara allows the tenno to take their time, to hunker down if need be, to sort out the shakes that they can’t help making even as they sit in an operator’s chair miles and miles away. She allows them to deal with things quietly, silently, allow themselves to take a respite from the thick of battle, and only after she is gone do their enemies even realize the Tenno was ever there.

Inaros is safety, wrapped in blankets of decay and darkness. He is a thief, taking the lives that rightfully belonged to others, but the Tenno discovers that, upon affixing the right modifications, he is near impossible to destroy. And after all that has been stolen- both from them and from the others they meet- exactly how awful is he, really, to steal something back? The Grineer might be able to scratch his armor, but it heals within seconds, and so he is able to simply, regally walk up to their forces and slaughter their ranks if he likes, or ignore them completely.

With Mag, everything anyone has to throw at them for any reason is used against them. Mostly bullets, mostly swords, but the Tenno finds that when controlling her chassis, they have a far better way with words as well. The things they say and the knives they throw stick to people, become unavoidable. Well, ‘say’ might not be entirely accurate; being incapable of speech, warframes usually communicate with sign language, and not everyone knows sign language. But, maybe by sheer coincidence, they’ve had the most success with Mag. Ordis once joked about it being something along the lines of ‘animal magnetism’, but the Tenno isn’t entirely sure that’s true. Because with Mag, they prove to be very good at pushing people away too, abilities and otherwise.

Hydroid is their leadership, their ability to manipulate and control a situation. They break up enemy ranks with his summoned Kraken, giving the team the edge they need to pass through and reach their targets undeterred. The Kraken can only reach so far, however, and thus Hydroid incentivizes them to continually improve their sense of tactics, positioning and reading the enemy’s actions. His slow speed usually provides they be in the backline, for the most part, but that proves beneficial. They make absolutely sure no one chases them fast enough to get in the way. They don’t like the sound of people drowning, or the crunch their spine makes when the Kraken snaps them in half, but it is a necessary thing. The Tenno may hate the sound and sight of it, but they hate the factions that corrupt and terrorize the system even more. So they flood the hallway and don’t look back.

With Valkyr, they are pure destruction. A cannon made of glass, certainly, but they had learned how to be nigh uncatchable so long ago, leaping off walls and soaring through nearly closed doorways, before slamming down on the enemy and destroying their facility with their razor sharp claws. She allows them to let loose, to vent, to destroy and even be allowed to- no, encouraged- to do so. It is simply the nature of the frame, and forcing a frame to go against its own nature is inadvisable at best. She is a tortured soul, and the very least they can do is allow her a chance at retribution. The scrape of metal raking metal screams and rings out until the docks of the Corpus collapse with shrieking metal, the stone caverns of Eidolon collapse in on themselves, and the ears of the Infested (wherever they are on their body) burst in showers of blood. It feels so good.

Wisp allows them to feel a little mischievous, misdirecting and confusing the enemy, giggling and playing with their motes all the while. When the ground gets just a little too rough to traverse, Wisp simply floats over it, like the floors crawling with infestation- or the ice cold grasses of Orb Vallis- or the steep rocky cliffs covered in trees standing and fallen- don’t exist. The enemy never see them coming as they weave their way out of the mist and blow them to kingdom come. Even if the enemy were to believe she was their primary opponent, they’d be sure to be stabbed in the back by the allies she strengthened with her enchantments. And in a weird way, her motes serves as companionship as well. If nothing else, they’re fun to play with whilst laughing at the enemy’s failures.

Excalibur makes them feel guilty, after a time. At first, it was rather unremarkable. Its sword abilities were useful and strong, as any warframe should be. It was a reliable frame, sturdy, straightforward.  
But after... Umbra...  
Everything changed.  
“You still hate them.” the Sentient had told the Stalker as the Tenno dangled, choking slowly, painfully. “You still hate yourself.”  
The Tenno wonders exactly how much of that is true. To this day, they’re still unsure.  
They look at Excalibur now, sealed into the case, and wonder if they should open the glass, let him out.  
They look at all their warframes, limp and lifeless in their spots in the hangar without their influence,  
and wonder what they would think of the child who wore them as a skin.

**Author's Note:**

> me, laying down on the floor looking blankly at the ceiling at 3am: the operator is 14 years old max. do you think they have identity issues cause of all these warframes having their own history. what happened to the tenno originally piloting these frames. are they all like umbra before the tenno take over. what if-


End file.
